Title: The Beautiful Names of Allah for Muslim Children
Author: Ibrahim O. Jimoh
Genre: Children’s Book
Series: Part 1
Illustrator: Faisal Tahir
Released: 2021
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 82
Source: I received a hard copy from the author in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.
Related Links: Amazon | GoodReads | Author
One of the fundamental pillars of tawheed (faith) in Islam is tawheed al-asma’ wa’l-sifaat i.e. the belief in the names and attributes of Allah. It complements believing that Allah is One with no partner or associate in His Lordship (ruboobiyyah), divinity (uloohiyyah). Negating any of these makes a person a disbeliever.
Allah is perfect in every sense and His Names are most beautiful. This requires that He be described always with all perfect attributes which negate all their opposites in every sense. This perfect attribute of Allah is what stands Him out as the pure, holy, faultless One. Thus, the anthropomorphic conception of God is a negation of His holiness.
The Beautiful Names of Allah for Muslim Children is a collection of soul-inspiring poems filled with moral and belief teachings for Muslim kids. It is carefully written to familiarize your child with the names of Allah and their significance in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) using analogies, stories, dua’ and lots more.
The poems are sticky and beautifully illustrated to capture the interest of every Muslim child both at home and in the classroom.
Allah is the Fashioner
He gave me two eyes
To see and guide my way
He gave me two ears
To listen to what people say
He gave me two nostrils
To smell and breathe in air
He puts all of them on my gorgeous face
– The Beautiful Names of Allah, Ibrahim O. Jimoh
Br. Ibrahim O. Jimoh has come up a with a one-of-a-kind series, The Beautiful Names of Allah, which is based on the concept of imparting the knowledge of Tawheed Asma was Sifat for little Muslims. This book, which is Part 1 of a 3-part series, covers 33 Names and Attributes of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, and I love that they are cited with the respective aayah/ahadith for reference.
In my opinion, the book truly has the potential to be more than it is at the moment. As much as I love the uniqueness of the book, I would have loved to see the poems present a variety of content, rather than repeat itself in many places which makes the poems redundant. The eye-catching illustrations and images are colourful enough to capture the children’s attention, but the inconsistent style of illustration is visibly disconcerting to the eyes. Certain illustrative elements could have been done away with due to the ambiguity of the nature.
With well-thought out content, consistent illustration, and a professional editor to oversee and suggest amendments, I believe the book would definitely become as it says–“a collection of beautiful and soul-inspiring poems on the 99 Names of Allah.”
May Allah bless the author in producing further books that provide quality Islamic education for children.
Have you read any books on the Names and Attrubites of Allah?
Umm Afraz Muhammed 